Laktionov is the artist of the painting. Master of genre painting

Biography

Famous Soviet painter, graphic artist; a significant master of portrait and genre painting. A convinced realist, he adhered to a conservative academic style in drawing and painting. Winner of the Stalin Prize, first degree (1948). Full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1958). People's Artist of the RSFSR (1969).

Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov was born in Rostov-on-Don. The father of the future artist worked as a blacksmith at a factory and was a good painter. He instilled in his son a love of fine art. Laktionov received his primary art education in his hometown. In 1926, he entered the Rostov Art School, where he studied for three years under the guidance of the founder of the educational institution, artist-teacher A. S. Chinenov. Here the formation of the realistic direction of the future master’s work began.

Continues his studies at the All-Russian Academy of Arts in Leningrad (1932-38). A noticeable influence on the young artist during his studies was exerted by the director of the Academy, professor of painting I. I. Brodsky, a student of I. E. Repin, one of the main representatives of the realistic traditions in Soviet fine art.

After completing the academic course, Laktionov completed graduate school at the educational institution (1938-1944), where his supervisor was I. E. Grabar. During this period, Alexander Ivanovich devoted a lot of time to studying the work of artists of past years, researched their writing techniques, trying to find his own painting style. The manifestation of such quests was reflected, for example, in the Self-Portrait of 1945, which bears the imprint of the traditions of the old Spanish masters.

The work of A. Laktionov began to attract the attention of specialists and spectators at the turn of the 1930s and 40s. The artist, who began his career in art as a portrait painter, at this time created a number of memorable works, which, first of all, include the painting “Cadets Issue a Wall Newspaper” (1938), a portrait of I. Brodsky (1939) and a series of graphic portraits of Moscow Art Theater artists ( 1940).

During the Great Patriotic War, Laktionov was evacuated in Samarkand, where students of the I.E. Repin LIZhSA moved. The artist drew a lot, was engaged in painting, and painted the painting “Speech of Comrade Stalin on November 7, 1941” (1942).

In the post-war period, most Soviet artists turned to genre painting. Such masters as F. P. Reshetnikov, S. A. Grigoriev and others became widely known in this direction. Alexander Ivanovich also tries his hand at the genre and achieves significant success. His painting “Letter from the Front” (1947) made a strong impression on the public and brought the author wide fame. A year later, the artist was awarded the State Prize of the first degree for this painting.

“Letter from the Front” - one of the most famous post-war genre paintings was painted by the artist in Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad) near Moscow, where Laktionov and his family arrived from evacuation in early 1944. Alexander Ivanovich recalled: “I lived with my large family in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. There was once a loophole for a cannon in the Kremlin wall, and later a large cell was built.” Having concluded a contract for his first postgraduate painting in the spring of 1945, the artist was going to give it the title “Meeting”. I considered several compositional options, but chance decided everything. One day, while walking, he met a soldier with a bandaged hand, leaning on a stick while walking. He was looking for the right address to deliver the letter. We started talking. Laktionov helped find the right house and became an involuntary witness to the scene of receiving the long-awaited news from the front. This is how the idea for the future painting was finally determined.

Laktionov worked on the painting for two years and finished it in 1947. He hired the artist V.I. Nifontov as a model for the letter-carrying soldier. According to the recollections of the author of the canvas, a paratrooper who had recently returned from the front, as expected, in an army uniform, with all his brave appearance, asked to be painted on canvas. Only my hand had to be tied with a bandage and lightly supported on a homemade crutch. The woman with the envelope is the sister of A.I. Laktionov’s mother, Evdokia Nikiforovna. The boy reading the letter was the artist’s seven-year-old son Seryozha, and the girl with braids was his daughter Svetlana. Finally, the neighbor became a girl in a blouse, with a red air defense duty band. Her whole figure is bathed in sunshine, and her smile adds warmth and light, filling the picture with optimism and joy.

In 1948, the painting was shown at the All-Union Art Exhibition in the State Tretyakov Gallery, where it was a significant success among the audience. After the exhibition, the painting was acquired by the State Tretyakov Gallery. Subsequently, for various museums, A. I. Laktionov made more than one author’s repetition of this famous work.

This painting by Alexander Laktionov became widely known and loved by viewers, participated in numerous exhibitions, and was repeatedly reproduced in print. It was included in school textbooks, placed on the pages of calendars, on the spreads of the magazines “Peasant”, “Ogonyok”, “Rabotnitsa”, and printed on separate sheets in mass editions. A reproduction of the painting “Letter from the Front” is depicted on one of the USSR postage stamps in the “History of Soviet Painting” series (1973).

He also created genre paintings: “Defender of the Motherland” (1948), “In Summer” (1951), “Embroidery”, “Moving to a new apartment” (1952), “Summer in Abramtsevo” (1958); painted ceremonial salon portraits: “Portrait of the Bolshevik Voevodin” (1950), “Portrait of A. Ya. Shterenberg”, “Portrait of Academician I. P. Bardin”; turned to still life: “Svetlana with a bear” (1940), “Still life. Toys" (1949). In these works, Laktionov demonstrates high pictorial skill, however, the heightened desire for illusoryness and a naturalistic approach to reflecting the objective world sometimes deprived his works of integrity of perception and did not allow him to penetrate into the area of ​​​​the psychological characteristics of the characters.

In the last decade of his creative activity, the painter created a series of images of Soviet cosmonauts, among which the masterfully painted portrait of V. M. Komarov (1967) attracts attention.

Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov was engaged in teaching activities. As a student, he began teaching at LINZHAS (Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, 1936-1944), then worked at the Moscow Correspondence Pedagogical Institute (1967-1970, from 1968 - professor).

Laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR named after I.E. Repin (1971), awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals.

The paintings of A.I. Laktionov are presented in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Altai Regional Museum of Local Lore, the Donetsk Regional Art Museum, the Sevastopol Art Museum. P. M. Kroshitsky, Institute of Russian Realistic Art.

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"Letter from the Front." The story of a masterpiece

Probably, few schoolchildren in the USSR did not write an essay based on Alexander Laktionov’s painting “Letter from the Front.” But if you didn’t write it, then everyone saw this work. However, few people know that such a bright, sunny canvas had a very difficult history. This is what we will talk about.

Unconventional view of Alexander Laktionov
But first, a few words about the author. Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov, the son of a blacksmith and a washerwoman, was born in 1910 in the city of Rostov-on-Don. From early childhood, the boy was distinguished by his phenomenal concentration and hard work. The father noticed his son's talent for drawing, and in the hope that Sasha would escape the difficult fate of workers and peasants, he began to encourage him in every possible way.

Laktionov brilliantly graduated from the Rostov art school and entered the art academy in Leningrad. They took him just by looking at his work. Since he was one of the best students here too, Laktionov became one of Isaac Brodsky’s favorite students. And he, as you know, was the main artist of the country at that time, the author of the “Lininiana” and the famous work “Lenin in Smolny”. The students (Vladimir Serov, Yuri Neprintsev, Alexey Gritsai, etc.) adopted the realistic style of the teacher. But Laktionov distinguished himself most of all in this regard. He was so precise and careful in detail that over time he was criticized for his formalism. They said that Laktionov’s paintings have no soul, the characters are flat, without character. Yes, there is a play of light and shadow. But where is the psychologism? Where is the human story?

There were even rumors that oculists, luminaries of Russian medicine, had found out that Laktionov had a special eye structure. He sees the world not the way we do, but stereoscopically - that is, he very clearly determines the shape, size and features of an object. And such a vision is given only to a select few. Hence the phenomenal accuracy of the objects depicted by Laktionov.

The birth of a plot

Let's move on to the master's most famous work - "Letter from the Front." At the beginning of 1944, after the evacuation, Laktionov and his family moved to the town of Zagorsk near Moscow. Soon he concluded an agreement to paint a picture that refers us to the plot of life in the rear during the Great Patriotic War. I even came up with a story - people from the front are waiting for a letter, receive it, rejoice, read it. Several times he began to write this plot, but everything did not work out. And the master was unhappy.

And then one day, going out into the street, he saw a soldier who, hobbling, leaning on a stick, was walking along Zagorsk Street. It was clear from everything that the area was unfamiliar to him and that he had come here on some errand. The soldier, seeing Laktionov, stopped, took out a piece of paper with the address, and asked how to find such and such a house.

The artist offered to conduct it. While they were walking, a conversation began - about life at the front, about the approaching Victory and that the soldier was bringing a good letter to his friend’s family.
Laktionov brought the stranger to the gate and saw how he entered the house, how his friend’s relatives came running, how they took out the letter, read it, afraid to miss even a word.

The same picture was finally born in the artist’s head. However, now it had to be written. Since Alexander Ivanovich was a thorough person, it took two years to work on the canvas. He did not write from memory, but found people who acted as models. The soldier who delivered the letter appeared to have the face of the artist Vladimir Nifontov, a friend of Laktionov. He also went through the war, was a paratrooper, and when he put on his uniform, he had such a brave appearance that it would be a sin not to draw him. True, the bandaged hand and the stick on which the hero of “Letters from the Front” leans is already a work of fiction.

The woman holding the envelope is Laktionov’s own aunt, Evdokia Nikiforovna. There are also the artist’s children in the picture. Son Seryozha - he became a boy who reads a letter (then he was seven years old), and daughter Sveta - a girl who stands holding the door and listens attentively to her brother. The sunniest character in the picture is a girl with a red bandage - the Laktionovs' neighbor. She posed with pleasure and this joy of hers is transmitted to the viewer.

However, there is more than enough happiness in the picture. There is a lot of sun, a lot of warmth, and looking at this work, you understand that even in the most difficult times, sometimes unforgettable moments happen.

However, contrary to expectations, the fate of the film can hardly be called easy. In 1948, Laktionov’s work was brought to the Tretyakov Gallery. Since a lot of works were brought, and the best ones had to go to the exhibition, the paintings went through a strict selection. Everything was taken into account: from the artist’s skill to the ideological component. There were disputes about “Letters from the Front” - the very extraordinary Laktionov found an approach to the topic, but nevertheless, the canvas was missed.

However, a few hours before the opening of the halls, a commission of government representatives came to the Tretyakov Gallery. They had to once again evaluate the political and ideological component. We looked at work after work, missed it, but stopped at “Letters from the Front.” And questions flew: “What kind of disgrace is this? Why does a Soviet family look so unsightly? What are those peeling walls? What are those cracks in the floor? Why are people so poorly dressed? Foreigners go to the Tretyakov Gallery! What will they think about the life of Soviet people?”
Questions poured in as if from a cornucopia. The museum staff did not look at “Letter from the Front” from this angle, so they had nothing to answer. But the work was still masterfully completed, and the Tretyakov Gallery’s leaders barely persuaded the officials to hang the canvas in the farthest corner, so that it would not be particularly conspicuous.

And they hanged him. In a tiny room, in the most unfavorable place - between the door and the window. And soon they noticed that visitors to the exhibition began to gather on the island near “Letters from the Front” - sometimes there were so many people that it was impossible to get through. They looked at the picture, examined the details, and sometimes cried. The war ended just three years ago. Many had fresh memories, many never received their letter from the front, so they were sad about personal things and happy for the heroes of the picture. Since there was such active interest in the work, the guides had to get involved - tell something about both the work and Laktionov.

The popular vote defeated the bureaucratic ban. The artist himself, seeing what place was given to his hard-won canvas, was very offended. But being a strong nature, and appreciating the interest of visitors, I decided to fight for the fate of the painting. I asked the museum staff for a guest book. And there is most of the gratitude addressed to “Letters from the Front.” Then he decided to send copies of these reviews to the very top, to all the offices that were possible, so that at least somewhere they could respond.

A handsome man enters. Stately, fit. In a blue-gray suit. With a tar-colored, raven-wing, thick, thick beard. The face is somewhat puffy, which indicates an unhealthy heart. The one who entered looked like a clergyman. Elegant glasses frames. Myopic eyes look sharply, the gaze is tenacious, penetrating. This is the most famous artist - Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov. For a long time, since 1947, his painting “Letter from the Front” has become a classic and textbook favorite of the audience.

We, students, look at the master with fascination and respect. We want to hear it. In the front row, in the hall, his wife and son, a boy of about twelve, sat in chairs. Where did I see them? And I remembered where my “acquaintance” with them came from. The book “Painting Techniques of Masters of Soviet Fine Art” was recently published. It features Mikhail Nesterov, Boris Ioganson, Alexander Deineka, P. Korin and others, as well as reproductions of portraits of Alexander Laktionov’s wife and son. It is amazing with what power of authenticity the artist stopped the passage of time.

The master talks from the stage about his difficult childhood in the provinces. About the first earnings. Future academics start somewhere... And for 19-year-old Sasha Laktionov, the first craft he mastered was working as a mason. The artist proudly named the street in his homeland in Rostov-on-Don, where he built part of the house.

He worked as a draftsman. I studied in Rostov, but couldn’t go to Moscow because I didn’t have enough experience. Finally, he and two comrades left for the capital. We spent three or four nights at the Kazansky station. Then they lived behind the barrels for twenty-two days. I heard Nesterov’s phrase from the artists Korin brothers: “I didn’t like and don’t like messing around with you.” However, Nesterov looked at the drawings of Laktionov and his friends and gave the order: “Make a portrait of a tree.” They completed the task, among other things, they pinned a reproduction of Velazquez to the barrel, and copied it too.

When he came to study in Leningrad, he realized that fate brought him together with an artist who was close to him due to his nature of perception of life. The motto of I. I. Brodsky, who became Laktionov’s teacher at the Academy of Arts, was the axiom: “Be as close to nature as possible!” This attitude became the credo of life and of his student Alexander Laktionov. And when he created a half-length portrait of a teacher with hands, in which the artist showed the highest skill, I. Brodsky, at that time already a seriously ill man, summed up: “Now you can die in peace.”

This portrait is today in the Museum-Apartment of I. I. Brodsky in Leningrad. He always makes you stop in front of him, admiring his realism and life-giving energy.

The Academy of Arts had already graduated, and the life of the young artist was spent in pursuit of daily necessities. No apartment, no orders. This was accompanied by family troubles.

After the war, Laktionov lives with his family in Zagorsk, in the monastery premises, in a cell. The painting “Letter from the Front” was painted here. And here it is as it is - a broken, rotten floor in the foreground of the picture. The edge of the monastery wall is brickwork, with crumbling plaster. But what piercing joy is in the picture! And no matter how much envious people scold it, it remains a painting born at a high level of realism, possible only on the basis of such serious academic training. And this is mastery of drawing in perspective, shape, color! The ability to combine all the components that work towards an artistic image. “Erase random features and you will see: the world is beautiful!” The feeling of being filled with sunshine in the picture is extremely strong. A state of calm, silence, frozen joy. Victory! The figure of a demobilized soldier, unarmed, peacefully walking along the paths of Russian soil is symbolic. And in the sky there is a trace of a jet plane. A new level of monitoring the country's security. Close people are included in the picture. Everything was worked from life. 1947 is the year the picture was created. I remember in 1947, it was as if nature itself responded to the victory. The summer was unusually fine, warm and sunny. It is this state that is reflected on the canvas. And there is no second such sunny, jubilant, victorious painting in world art as “Letter from the Front.” It was first shown at the All-Union Art Exhibition in 1947.

At first it was hung under the stairs on the first floor of the Tretyakov Gallery. The place is narrow, dark, there was no escape to view the picture. One day A. Zhdanov is walking through the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery with a government commission. Viewing the exhibition. Stopping in front of the painting “Letter from the Front,” he asks:

How do artists evaluate it?

Artists scold, they answer Zhdanov.

What do ordinary spectators and people say? - the stern secretary of the Central Committee asks the question again.

People like it, admire it...

Why is it hanging under your stairs in the dark? Give her a good, visible place.

I come the next day and there is no picture. No, two days... I ask the Tretyakov directorate, where is the painting? No one knows. A few days later she appears. They hung it in the central hall, not far from “Harvest” by T. Yablonskaya. Mine is on the far wall. It turns out that the painting was taken to the Kremlin. They showed it to Stalin. Everyone already knows: the leader liked this victorious work.

I meticulously wrote down all the artist’s stories about himself in a notebook and therefore here I reproduce them almost verbatim.

My wife and I wake up in our cell in Zagorsk,” he says. - They played and sang the anthem of the Soviet Union on the radio. We hear that the latest news reports: “Laktionov was awarded the Stalin Prize for the painting “Letter from the Front”.”

Did you hear? - I ask my wife. My God, we can’t believe our own ears. I ran outside, waited for the newsstand to open, and read the newspaper. Indeed, I was awarded the Stalin Prize. From then on,” continued Alexander Ivanovich, “I received orders and received an apartment in Moscow. Money began to appear...

A very impressive painting was created in the 50s by A. Laktionov, depicting a girlish figure sitting on the windowsill of an open window - “Girl at Embroidery”. The work is sunny and joyful.

One day he comes to the Tretyakov Gallery and finds out that the painting is missing. Without asking the author, it was presented as a masterpiece to the collection of Jawaharlal Nehru. She left for India forever.

Two other works by the artist, made in the pastel technique, were also of great influence: “Still Life with Oranges”, “Self-Portrait” with a Cane. All three paintings were published in the Ogonyok magazine. And at the All-Union Exhibition of 1957, in Manege, spectators gathered in crowds around these works.

Once the Central Committee of the Party ordered A. Laktionov to portrait N. S. Khrushchev for mass circulation. It was made using lithography technique based on photographs and fleeting meetings with the General Secretary. As you know, Nikita Sergeevich was very portly, almost obese. This fullness spilled over into the person of the first leader of the country. The artist “tightened up” the face of the person being portrayed, removed excess puffiness, drew everything in detail - even the warts on the neck and nose, but did everything in a masterful way.

The artist recalled:

They hung a portrait of Nikita Sergeevich in front of the office of the CPSU Central Committee in such a way that he could see it when going to work in the morning. It hung there for a week, they asked Khrushchev if he liked the portrait and could it be distributed throughout the country?

Print! Put it into circulation! - agreed the head of the country, who liked the portrait. N.S. Khrushchev personally congratulated A.I. Laktionov on the New Year in subsequent years. There was an artist with his sick heart attached to the Kremlevka, where he was treated.

He told me how he spent many sessions painting a portrait of his son; he worked almost all summer, so his son didn’t even get a chance to play during the holidays.

He painted a large canvas - a multi-figure composition “Prosperous Old Age”. It shows famous artists who have worked on stage and are living out their lives in a veterans' home. In the picture, the actors are sitting, some in armchairs, some on a sofa around a large table covered with fruit. There is tea drinking and a lively conversation at the table.

Artists are artists until the end of their days. And until the last day they live with an unquenchable fire in their souls, boundless imagination,” Laktionov continued.

They were so old that many died while I was painting them. - And at the same time he pointed with his finger: - Both this one and this one. I had to finish many portraits from memory.

There were many funny and tragic episodes while I was working on it. Their main, one might say, professional passion is declaration of love. Yes, yes, these old, old people. - Names a couple of famous actors. “He pursued her throughout the veterans’ home, courted her, showed attention, offered her his hand and heart. How did it all end? And she ended up washing herself in the bathroom. He (Othello) came to her, fell to his knees and continued his confession. She (Ophelia) showed him a fig from the bathroom and died immediately...

The childhood and youth of A.I. Laktionov were difficult; fate favored him in adulthood. Through his work and talent he reached the pinnacle of art. But sadness settled in his heart after the tragic events. Once upon a time, the best works of Soviet artists were brought to America: “Letter from the Front” by A. Laktionov, “Defense of Petrograd” by A. Deineka, “At the Old Ural Factory” by B. Joganson, early landscapes by M. Saryan... they were loaded into the hold ship, and there they were flooded with water. The craftsmen tried their best to restore it. But on the canvases there is practically no author’s letter, handwriting, or original paints of the artists who created these masterpieces...

Laktionov Alexander Ivanovich- (1910 1972), Soviet painter and graphic artist. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1969), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1958). Mainly a master of everyday genre and portrait painter. He studied at the Leningrad Academy of Arts (1932-38) with I. I. Brodsky. He taught at LINJAS... Art encyclopedia

Laktionov Alexander Ivanovich-, Soviet painter and graphic artist, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1969), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1958). Studied at the Academy of Arts in Leningrad (1932≈38) with I. I. Brodsky. Taught at the Institute of Painting,... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

LAKTIONOV Alexander Ivanovich- (1910 72) Russian painter, People's Artist of Russia (1969), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1958). Genre paintings (Letter from the Front, 1947) and portraits (V. M. Komarov, 1967) are distinguished by an illusively accurate representation of the objective world.… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Laktionov Alexander Ivanovich- (1910 1972), painter, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1969), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1958). Genre paintings (“Letter from the Front”, 1947) and portraits (“V. M. Komarov”, 1967) are distinguished by an illusively accurate, naturalistic rendering of the objective world.… … encyclopedic Dictionary

Laktionov Alexander Ivanovich

Laktionov, Alexander Ivanovich- Genus. 1910, d. 1972. Painter. Creator of genre paintings and portraits, distinguished by everyday concreteness and careful detailing. Student of I. I. Brodsky. Canvases: portrait of I. I. Brodsky (1939 40), “Letter from the Front” (1947),… … Large biographical encyclopedia

Laktionov, Alexander- Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov Date of birth: May 29, 1910 Place of birth: Rostov-on-Don Date of death: March 15, 1972 Place of death: Moscow, USSR Citizenship ... Wikipedia

Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov- ... Wikipedia

LAKTIONOV- Alexander Ivanovich (1910 72), painter, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1969), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1958). Genre paintings (Letter from the Front, 1947) and portraits (V. M. Komarov, 1967) are distinguished by an illusively accurate, naturalistic rendering... ... Russian history

Laktionov- (Laktionova) Russian surname. Famous carriers: Laktionov, Alexander Ivanovich (1910 1972) Soviet artist. Laktionov, Alexander Yurievich (born 1986) Russian football player. Laktionov, Denis Vladimirovich (born 1977) ... ... Wikipedia

Laktionov Alexander Ivanovich is a Soviet artist, master of portrait and genre painting. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1969), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1958).

Alexander Ivanovich was born on May 16 (29), 1910 in Rostov-on-Don. The father of the future artist worked as a blacksmith at a factory and was a good painter. He instilled in his son a love of fine art.

Laktionov received the basics of his art education in his hometown. In 1926, he entered the Rostov Art School, where he studied for three years under the guidance of the founder of the educational institution, artist-teacher A. S. Chinenov. Here the formation of the realistic direction of the future master’s work began.

Laktionov continues his further studies at the All-Russian Academy of Arts (Leningrad, 1932 - 38). A noticeable influence on the young artist during his studies was exerted by the director of the Academy, professor of painting I. I. Brodsky, a student of I. E. Repin, one of the main representatives of the realistic traditions in Soviet fine art.

After completing the academic course, Laktionov completed graduate school at the educational institution (1938 - 1944), where his supervisor was I. E. Grabar. During this period, Alexander Ivanovich devoted a lot of time to studying the work of artists of past years, researched their writing techniques, trying to find his own painting style. The manifestation of such quests was reflected, for example, in the Self-Portrait of 1945, which bears the imprint of the traditions of the old Spanish masters.

Laktionov’s work began to attract the attention of specialists and spectators at the turn of the 30s and 40s. The artist, who began his career in art as a portrait painter, at this time created a number of memorable works, which, first of all, include a portrait of I. Brodsky (1939) and a series of graphic portraits of Moscow Art Theater artists (1940).

In the post-war period, most Soviet artists turned to genre painting. Such masters as F. P. Reshetnikov, S. A. Grigoriev and others have become widely known in this direction. Alexander Ivanovich also tries his hand at the genre and achieves significant success. His painting “Letter from the Front” (1947) makes a strong impression on the public and brings wide fame to the author.

In the last decade of his creative activity, the painter created a series of images of Soviet cosmonauts, among which the masterfully painted portrait of V. M. Komarov (1967) attracts attention.

Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov was engaged in teaching activities. As a student, he began teaching at LINZHAS (Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, 1936 - 1944), then worked at the Moscow Correspondence Pedagogical Institute (1967 - 1970, from 1968 - professor).

Laureate of the Stalin Prize of the first degree (1948, for the painting Letter from the Front), the State Prize of the RSFSR named after I. E. Repin (1971), awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals.

The artist Laktionov had high artistic skill, however, the naturalistic approach to reflecting the objective world sometimes did not allow him to penetrate into the area of ​​psychological characteristics of the characters.

On March 15, 1972, at the age of 63, Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov died. He is buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.